A.T.P. or Animal Tested Plantains

January 27, 2005

Friday, January 21, 2005 - Volley Ball Beach, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

She who is known as Lobster Slayer (Amy) impressed pretty much the entire anchorage today when she bagged her first lobster.

Like any community, everyone here is nosey and so word spread in a matter of minutes that there was actually a girl in the anchorage who can hunt. Twenty people must have stopped by to congratulate her.

I think most of the other men here wish there wives could hunt. Maggie and I may be relegated to house husband status while Amy goes out and gets the bacon so to speak.

On the less blood thirsty news front, we had a really busy day,

Amy went Yoga this morning while Maggie and I did engine maintenance and had BLT sandwiches. When she returned we loaded up the dinghy and went out on the reef. Not counting the one Amy got, we saw two other lobsters. One was too small and the other was too smart.

After diving, it was a quick lunch of lamb fajitas and then in to the volleyball courts for our daily exercise. After volleying, we headed back to the mother ship to make popcorn to take to the beach happy hour this evening.

About 35 boats showed up to the happy hour and we had a great time. We met several new boats and caught up with some we haven't seen in months. We capped the night off with a large beach bonfire.

A great ending to a great day

Saturday, January 22, 2005 - Kids Cove, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

Another busy day.

We started out with a breakfast of hash browns and fried eggs. While breakfast was cooking I also put together a loaf of bread, then while Amy did the dishes, I got our dive gear ready and we headed south shortly there after.

The wind has dropped to nothing and the harbour was like glass. Excellent diving weather, but apparently the sea life didn't get the memo. We saw very little in two hours worth of swimming and only managed to bring home one 14 inch grunt.

After snorkeling, we upped anchor and moved the mother ship over to Kidd Cove. There is a cold front coming through on Sunday and we need to find protection from the west winds. With the boat safely anchored we ventured in to town and walked around some.

We stopped for a beer or two at the Two Turtles and then again at Eddie's Edgewater. I think the Chat and Chill is still our favorite.

Anyway, we cooked Amy's lobster for dinner tonight. It was most excellent. Drinks over sunset brought the end to another day in paradise

Sunday, January 23, 2005 - Kids Cove, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

We went to work first thing this morning carrying water out to the big boat from the free RO water tap at the dinghy dock inside Lake Victoria. Three trips later we had the big boat full and all three jerry jugs topped off.

As today is Sunday, nothing in town is open. We walked around a bit to stretch our legs, then it was back to the boat for a late breakfast of waffles.

In the early afternoon we took the dinghy over to the Chat and Chill in hope of watching the NFL playoff game. We thought the Steelers were playing at 3 pm, but they weren't and we didn't really care about the teams that were, so we played volleyball instead.

After volleyball we sat down and had a burger and fries. We shared a table with John and his wife off Daisy Belle, who sometimes play volley ball with us. While talking to John we found out he is the local minister, which in hind sight explains something we have been trying to figure out.

The other day, while playing, Amy hit the volley ball way up in the air and the wind gusted and blew it into the next court over. I think she said something like 'God was against us!' to the few of us around the play. John (the minister) spoke up and said "Fear not child, we still have hope" which at the time seemed a little odd. Now we know.

In all fairness, John took it pretty well, but I'm glad I didn't tell him the one about J.C. and the Boys walking into a strip club.

We headed back to the boat in time to listen to the Pittsburgh game at 6:30. They were losing badly by half time so we went to bed.

Monday, January 24, 2005 - Volley Ball Beach, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

The front came through last night and we rocking horribly by 3 AM. At 6, it was light enough to move, so we picked up the anchor and headed back over to the protection of Volley Ball Beach.

I spent the morning playing video games while Amy and Maggie alternated between sleeping and reading. Afterwards, I did a few boat chores before we headed into volley ball.

This time I played on the "advanced" court. In a word, they aren't. It was more fun however, not because the players are any better, but because you only play four to a side and so you get to hit the ball a lot more.

Tomorrow we will probably start getting ready for the impending arrival of our first (and most likely only) guest of the season. Kris (the lawyer from New York) is scheduled to arrive in George Town on Saturday. She will be spending a week or two with us to escape the winter weather and to have her 30 th birthday in the Bahamas.

Once she arrives, we will be picking up anchor and leaving George Town. Contrary to what some people say, George Town is a lot of fun. It would be easy to get stuck here for the season, but Amy and I are both ready to start traveling again.

Dinner was home made pizza.

Tuesday, January 25, 2005 - Volley Ball Beach, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

Today was a pretty low key day for Team Dream Catcher. Amy mostly read books, while the ferret never woke up for longer than 10 minutes all day. I did a few odd boat chores and played on the computer most of the afternoon.

To get off the boat for a bit, we went into volley ball again this afternoon, but the games were pretty lame and we did not stay long. We had a beer or two at the Chat and Chill and then returned to the boat for movie night.

Tonight's selection was a pathetic 1970's version of Dracula. We made it about 20 minutes before turning it off and going to bed. A lame day to be sure

Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - Sand Dollar Beach, George Town, Exuma
By Amy

For the first time in ages, it was a pleasant trip across the harbor here. Flat seas, almost no wind, and relatively cool temperatures combined to make quite a nice day. We spent the morning running errands in town: loading up on over-priced groceries, picking up the propane tank, and getting online at an exorbitant rate of $15/hour.

After errands, we mosied back to the boat. Thomas and I had drawn straws the night before for who would do dishes and who would clean the bathroom. I took the bathroom but didn't quite have the fortitude to tackle it. (Thomas, sneaky one that he is, offered me a drink and my bathroom-cleaning light promptly went out.) I had to make up for it this afternoon. While I scrubbed, Thomas polished some stainless and did other boat chores.

For our afternoon social activity, we skipped volleyball in favor of a dinghy raft up. Basically, a happy hour. But rather than do it in the comfort of a boat or on the spacious beach, we hang out in our respective dinghies. All the dinghies tie together and then just float through the harbor like one huge amoeba while people try to balance drinks and pass appetizers around at warp speed. Logistics aside, it was pretty fun. I stocked up on some off-color jokes that I will not share here.

After the joke fest ended, we raced Jack and Evie back to their boat, swamped them with our dinghy, and then invited them for drinks on our boat. Peter from Hindu Five joined us later. Hindu Five is a Pearson 28, much like our old Bristol, and Peter is a twenty-eight year-old English teacher taking a year's sabbatical. I'm not sure either of us was in much condition by then to have intelligent conversation but I do remember having fun before I retreated to my bed to rest up for the hangover that arrived promptly in the morning. Ugh

Thursday, January 27, 2005 - Sand Dollar Beach, George Town, Exuma
By Tom

Amy was feeling under the weather this morning, so I left the boat to let her sleep in peace and I went over into town to hook up with the Cruisers softball team. They agreed to let me practice with them and for the next three hours I swatted softballs around.

I haven't played softball since high school and initially I forgot which side of the plate to stand on. After a few swings, I realized I was on the wrong side and promptly switched. This sent up the protest of "switch hitter" and somehow everyone thought I was some kind of super softball player. I don't think so.

In the end I didn't hurt or embarrass myself, of course I was playing with the usual geriatric crowd here and with the exception of Liz off Undine II, I was the youngest player there by 20 years. Oh well.

After softball, the coach Glenn off of Turn One took us all out for a post practice beer and he and I spent an hour talking about motorcycles. He used to be an avid rider and we know a lot of the same people as well as a lot of the same equipment. It was a good time.

I returned to the mother ship around noon and Amy was feeling better, so I made us some lunch on the grill. Afterwards we went in to volleyball on the beach. Today I got to play on the professional court and it was quite a work out. I did ok and I definitely wasn't the weakest link so I was happy.

We rushed from volleyball back to the boat to change and grab our cocktails before heading over to the Remedey's (Ritchie and Liz) for sun downers. Actually, they had asked us to come by a couple of days ago to look at a computer problem they were having, so we wrapped happy hour around it and a good time was had by all.

This will no doubt astound long term readers, but at the Remedies boat I tried fried plantains and found them to be excellent. Liz and Amy have been making fun of me for two months about how picky I am about what I will eat and I am pretty sure that they have been conspiring for weeks as to how to get me to try something new.

They think they have won, but unbeknownst to them, I made the ferret taste one first. She didn't die, so I figured they were ok.

P.S. - No ferrets were harmed in the making of this log.